Axcient will pay partners up front for new and renewing contracts for its disaster Recovery-as-a-Service offering, gambling that customers will stay with the service for the five years it could take for the company to break even on those contracts.

While a large group of EMC's investors continue to hope that EMC will sell parts of itself to create more clear valuation for them, EMC is likely heading in the opposite direction by considering more acquisitions, according to a top analyst.